I don’t want to be lost.
“My choice,” she paused, licked her dry lips, then said, “is to stay here with a guard…and keep living my life.”
He was silent behind her, but she could easily see his reflection in the mirror. In contrast to her, he was big, tan, muscled. Dangerous. Solid.
“Do you think this Luther Bates will call off the hit on me?” Elizabeth asked.
He started to shake his head. She saw that faint movement, but he seemed to catch himself. “I’ll talk with him.”
So…no. He didn’t think Luther was going to back off.
“And if a guard stays with me, then that person…he or she would be at risk, just like Saxon was.” Saying his name hurt. How was it possible for one man to get to her this way? She’d known him for such a short time, but now, everything seemed different. She wasn’t even looking at the world the same way any longer.
Because I know the world isn’t safe now. I know danger is out there. It’s always been out there, and I was just stumbling around in the dark without a clue.
“The agents know the risks that they face.”
She kept staring at that mirror. Who was on the other side? “I’m sorry, but I don’t actually trust your agents.” How could she? “Seeing as how one of them tried to kill me, and, by his own admission, he murdered my parents.” The pain was there, waiting to open up and swallow her, but she couldn’t give in. Not yet.
Elizabeth made herself face Victor. “There is a third choice, you know. Maybe I should disappear on my own. I did a good enough job of it before.” She hadn’t been afraid, not once, while she’d been in Europe.
But Victor gave a negative shake of his head. “That’s not going to work.”
Why not?
“Luther was being hauled to jail the last time you got on a plane and left. He and his men were doing damage control. You slipped away at the perfect time.” His lips thinned. “They know about you now. You won’t be able to get away, not without help.”
He wasn’t getting it. “How am I supposed to trust any agent you send to me?” How was she supposed to trust anyone?
Silence. “You trusted Saxon.”
Pain knifed her in the gut. “And I nearly got him killed.”
“His job.”
She stormed toward him. “And my life.” Her breath heaved out. Dammit, this couldn’t be happening. It shouldn’t be happening. “I don’t want another guard. I don’t want to look at people, every single day, and wonder…who is a killer—who’s coming after me now?”
“You won’t have the resources to vanish on your own. If you try it, then you’ll be tracked down. You’ll slip up. Use a credit card that can be linked to you. Call the wrong person. You’ll be found, and then you’ll be dead.”
It sounded like she might be a dead woman no matter what. Elizabeth swiped at the tear that had trickled down her cheek.
“What will it be?” Victor asked her.
There was no choice, and Elizabeth knew that Victor had realized it all along. “New name. New place…and no agents on my trail.”
“You’ll get a handler, someone to check in with…someone to make sure you’re safe. I’ll personally vet him for you—”
Her laughter cut him off. “Didn’t you do that before?”
“You will be safe,” he promised her.
Then he turned and left her. Her chin stayed up and her spine remained straight until the door shut behind him, then, when she was alone…the pain took over.
She turned to stare at her reflection and saw the fresh tears on her cheeks.
***
Fucking no.
Saxon’s hand was on the glass that separated him from Elizabeth. She was there, dammit, she was crying, and he felt as if Gary was shooting him all over again because the pain was so hot and—
“Well…she’s made her choice.”
Victor’s voice came from just a few feet away. Saxon didn’t look back at the guy. He couldn’t take his eyes off Elizabeth. “You didn’t give her a damn choice.”
“Sure I did. She could keep her old life here, and probably die here, too, or she could go somewhere and become someone brand spanking new.”
His wounds hurt. He was supposed to still be in the hospital, but he’d dragged his ass out of bed because he’d needed to see Elizabeth once more.
“You’re becoming someone new, too,” Victor murmured. “Guess you’ll both just move right on…”
No, he wasn’t moving on. “Who is her handler going to be? How the fuck do you know you can trust the guy?” And would that guy have intimate access to Elizabeth?
Yes. Shit. He would. He’d be there, her closest contact day and night. The guy she called if she got scared. The man who’d help her if she needed anything—
“I’m going to get Elizabeth set up. I’ll be working her case personally.”
Elizabeth looked as if she were staring right at him, her gaze boring through the glass.
“I’ll take care of her,” Victor assured him. “Don’t worry.”
She was in pain right then. Crying without making a single sound.
Then her lips moved. He stiffened. Wait…did she know he was there? Because it sure looked like she’d just whispered…
I’m sorry.
His hand fisted near the glass.
Thank you for saving me.
“I’ll make sure she gets set up in a safe location.” Victor’s tone seemed so confident. “Then I’ll go after Luther Bates.”
They’d already covered this. “You don’t believe the guy is going to call off the hit.”
“I won’t know anything for sure, not until I talk to him.” Victor’s voice grew louder as he closed in on Saxon. “It sure would be nice if I could have someone in the field who would keep an eye on her, until I got this shit sorted out. Someone who could protect her when I wasn’t there. Because, Witness Protection is good and all…as long as no one finds the witness.”
She wiped her hands over her cheeks. Squared her shoulders once more.
And she even managed a weak smile.
She knows I’m here.
“You whispered something to her,” Saxon said as he replayed that little scene in his mind. “Something I couldn’t hear.” He sure hadn’t liked how close Victor had gotten to Elizabeth. It had looked like the guy was kissing her. Friend or no friend, brother or not…Saxon had felt jealousy burn in him.
Victor’s hands had been on her skin. His mouth had been touching her ear. That shit had made him see red because Saxon could still remember what it was like to drive into the hot silk of her sex. Because she was crying—for me.
He wasn’t sure anyone had ever actually cried over him before. His mother sure hadn’t cared about him. She forgot me the minute I walked out of the door. No, she’d actually forgotten about him long before that—when he’d still been in the house and days would pass without her even speaking to him.
But Elizabeth, a woman he’d met just days before…she cried for him. She’d risked her life for him.
“I told her that you’d survived, but that you wouldn’t be seeing her again.”
She had paced back across the room and sat down. As he kept watching, the door to that room opened, and the fresh-faced cop returned.
“And I told her…” Victor continued quietly, “that you were dead to her and everyone else.”
Saxon’s head jerked as he turned to glare at his friend.
“You’re free and clear now, buddy,” Victor said as he slapped a hard hand on Saxon’s shoulder. “So tell me…how the hell are you enjoying that freedom?”
Saxon’s eyes narrowed even more on Victor. “Fucking asshole.”
Victor smiled at him. “I’ll be moving her by dawn. I figure you’ll need a bit longer to recover before your transfer.”
She’d just be—gone?
Victor released him and turned away. “Maybe it will all work out,” Victor said as he walked toward the door. “Maybe she’ll vanish into suburbia. Marry some accountant or banker and have two point five kids.”
That would mean she had to sleep with the damn accountant.
She cried for me.
“I hope you enjoy your new life,” Victor said. He opened the door.
And Saxon heard himself say… “Wait…”
When Victor swung back with a smug smile on his face, Saxon knew he’d played straight into the guy’s hands.
But I can’t let her go.
Not now. Maybe not ever.